Hi NYC Community,
I am writing to see how you are dealing with the bill that is now on the Governors desk for signature. We have 60 days to make adjustments to our websites once this is signed. As usual I am researching other ticketing websites to see how this is being managed and have an example below. I also highlighted important parts of the bill that seem to pertain to us.
Would love to share ideas. Presently the tickets have to be in the cart and then you proceed to checkout to see the fees. I like how Ticketmaster presents the information. We have different fees for our performances and can have a mixed cart.
Thanks for entertaining the issue.
Susan
Senate Bill S9461
2021-2022 Legislative Session
Enacts into law components of legislation that relate to live event ticket sales; institutes civil penalties for utilizing ticket purchasing software; increases civil penalties currently in place and institutes new penalties for second offenses for licensees (Part A); requires full ticket prices to be disclosed prior to a customer purchasing such ticket; requires such price to remain the same during the purchase process (Part B); prohibits the resale of a ticket if such ticket was initially offered to the public at no charge (Part C); requires online resale marketplaces to clearly and conspicuously disclose the established price charged by the operator of a place of entertainment that is printed or endorsed on the face of each ticket (Part D); allows reasonable and actual costs to be charged for the physical delivery of certain tickets (Part E); extends the effectiveness of certain provisions relating to tickets to places of entertainment (Part F).
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Part B of this bill amends subdivision 4 of section 25.07 of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law to require sellers and resellers of tickets to disclose the total cost of a ticket and clearly and conspicuously disclose the amount of the price that is made up of fees and other charges. The disclosure of the total price and fees shall be displayed in the ticket listing prior to the ticket being selected for purchase. The price of a ticket may not increase during the purchasing process. The total price of a ticket must be disclosed at the beginning of a transaction at the first instance a price is shown. Such disclosure can't be misleading, the components of the total price may not be displayed more prominently or in a larger font than the total cost. This part takes effect 60 days after the effective date of the act.
Hello Susan. I hope all is well. I have been thinking about this as well. I wonder how strict the 60 day deadline will be? This can be heavy lift when it comes to cost, design, and implementation to meet this deadline. For me, SYOS and Best Available buyer flows will need completely different functionality. And, my order details page will need to add qty to fees. Ticketmaster does a nice job. Here's another doozy, fees based on percent to ticket price. We've implemented Choose What You Pay and I've been looking at percent to ticket price to be more equitable than using a flat fee. Yes, we use mixed fees too in some cases.
Hi there.
Thank you for taking an interest in this topic. I am following the Bill, and it has not been signed yet. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S9461
I agree that this is a challenge based on how we process ticket orders. How about different fees for donor levels? The correct fee will not be displayed if they do not log in while shopping. The fee has to switch after login. Transaction decisions must be revised on our website, and we must consider that. Maybe we can list all the ticket fee options we use and deal with each individually.
I wonder if it makes sense to get the NY Group together for some discussion. I realize that the notice says 60 days, but I would love to have a solution before then.
I think it be a great idea to gather the NYC community. I am asking my legal team if the 60 days is hard deadline. We use Made as our vendor for e-commerce platform and I know few others in the area do. This might be a challenge if we all need assistance on this. Let me get with Jamie and Corri and se what they think.
You are a gem!!!!
Should we try to host a zoom meeting or I dare say an in-person? BTW, are you headed to Denver?
Would love to have a meeting in any format and yes to Denver!
I heard this is going to be signed later today. Wow!
Wow! is right! I have a meeting with our legal team at 2:30, if I can share anything useful I will.
My colleague is meeting with our state lobbyist at 230. We're hoping the 60 days is not a hard deadline. And if so, can we submit scheduled work plan as being good players and in good faith. More to come.
Here is what I found out.
Guidance at this stage is that we post fees clearly on our website somewhere. The bill prohibits charging a delivery fee for self-printed or e-tickets. Their sense is also that this will not be enforced since their isn’t an agency identified. If it were to be enforced, any fees for noncompliance by a secondary party would fall on that reseller.
Sounds like the path of least resistance for All of Us "the primary seller"
Anyone else hear otherwsie?
This is good news.
I withdrawer this. Here is an update I just received. I think in the short term we can post it somewhere preferably show pages, but it does not need to be in the ticket buyer flow. I knew this was not going to be that simple.
The language in the legislation (full text) is:
Every operator of a place of entertainment that facilitates the sale of tickets shall disclose the total cost of the ticket, inclusive of all ancillary fees that must be paid in order to purchase the ticket, and disclose in a clear and conspicuous manner the total price of the ticket and the portion of the ticket price stated in dollars that represents a service charge, or any other fee or surcharge to the purchaser. Such disclosure of the total cost and fees shall be displayed in the ticket listing prior to the ticket being selected for purchase. […] The price of the ticket shall not increase during the purchase process, excluding reasonable fees for the delivery of non-electronic tickets based on the delivery method selected by the purchaser, which shall be disclosed prior to accepting payment.
Okay then, back to square one. Melissa has some good information and it is now time to figure out the complications. Can you confirm your second sentence. I think the word "not" is throwing me.